At the Crossroads of Revolution: Lexington and Concord in 1775

Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers

Postmark Deadline: March 1, 2012

“At the Crossroads of Revolution: Lexington and Concord in 1775” consists of two one-week NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops held during summer 2012 for eighty school teachers on Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, and the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. Utilizing Minute Man National Historical Park (including the North Bridge and the preserved “Battle Road”), Freedom Trail in Boston, and sites in Concord itself, the project focuses on the battles of Lexington and Concord to illuminate the following topics: New England life and society on the eve of the Revolution; the developing conflict between Britain and its colonies; the battles themselves; the impact of the events on ordinary farmers, women, and African Americans; the local environment and landscape in relation to the history of the time; and the legacies of the Revolution, particularly in the writings of nineteenth-century Concord authors such as Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. The project faculty includes co-directors Jayne Gordon and Kathleen Barker (Massachusetts Historical Society [MHS]), Robert Gross (history, University of Connecticut), William Fowler (history, Northeastern University), Brian Donahue (environmental studies, Brandeis University), and Mary Fuhrer and Joanne Meyers (independent historians).

About NEH Landmarks of American History: Workshops for School Teachers

The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent grant-making agency of the federal government. As part of the NEH’s We the People program, we offer the following Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers. NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops provide the opportunity for K-12 educators to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history and culture. These one-week programs will give participants direct experiences in the interpretation of significant historical and cultural sites and the use of archival and other primary evidence. Landmarks Workshops present the best scholarship on a specific landmark or related cluster of landmarks, enabling participants to gain a sense of the importance of historical places, to make connections between what they learn in the Workshop and what they teach, and to develop enhanced teaching or research materials.

Amount of Award

Teachers selected to participate will receive a stipend of $1,200 at the end of the residential Workshop session. Stipends are intended to help cover living expenses, books, and travel expenses to and from the Workshop location.

Eligibility

These projects are designed principally for classroom teachers and librarians in public, charter, independent, and religiously-affiliated schools, as well as home schooling parents. Other K-12 school personnel, including administrators, substitute teachers, and classroom professionals, are eligible to participate, subject to available space.

Teachers at schools in the United States or its territorial possessions or Americans teaching in foreign schools where at least 50 percent of the students are American nationals are eligible for this program. Applicants must be United States citizens, residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been residing in the United States or its territories for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline. Foreign nationals teaching abroad at non-U.S. chartered institutions are not eligible to apply.

Applicants must complete the NEH application and provide all of the information requested to be considered eligible.

New this year: An individual may apply to up to two NEH Summer Programs in any one year (Landmarks Workshops, Summer Seminars, or Summer Institutes), but may participate in only one. Please note that eligibility criteria differ significantly between the Landmarks Workshops and the Seminars and Institutes Programs.

How to Apply

Please e-mail, telephone or send by U.S. Post a request for application information and expanded Workshop descriptions to the Landmarks directors listed here; in many cases, these materials will also be available on project Web sites. You may request information about as many Workshops as you like, and, as noted above, you may apply to up to two programs but participate in only one.